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The Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities organized an open meeting with the local community at the Abu Saiba archaeological site, during which it reviewed the results of the archaeological excavations of the French archaeological team. A large number of people attended the event and those interested in the history and cultural heritage of the Kingdom of Bahrain.

During the meeting, Dr. Julien Cuny, Head of the French Archaeological Mission, which cooperates with the Louvre Museum - Paris, gave a full explanation about the history of the site and the recent archaeological discoveries revealed. Indeed, the team is carrying out this year the seventh season of excavations with the participation of specialists in the field of archeology from France and Bahrain.

The Abu Saiba archaeological site is located in the middle of a neighborhood surrounded by residential buildings, and it appears in the form of an almost complete circular sand mound, which is the typical shape of the tomb mounds of the Tylos period. The diameter of this mound is about 70 meters, and its height reaches 5 meters.

Indeed, during the meeting, the audience was introduced to the details of the archaeological discoveries at the site, as nearly 104 burials have been identified to date. In fact, the excavations revealed that many of them had been robbed and stolen in the past, while the team discovered this year five intact tombs that contained human skeletons, accompanied by items related to burial rituals, such as glass vessels, pins and pottery vessels. As for the most important discoveries, it was a burial of a young child with the remains of a wooden coffin. These wooden remains were transported and sent for study to determine the type, nature and source of wood. Moreover, funerary items such as a glass bottle, large beads of agate, a spindle, a bracelet, a silver ring and a necklace were found with the remains of the child. It has indications about the funeral rites and social customs of Bahrain's residents at that time.

It is worth noting that the French archaeological mission in Bahrain has been participating since 2017 in a research project at the Abu Saiba sit, which dates back to the Tylos period in Bahrain. Worth to mention that the first archaeological excavations conducted at the archaeological tell were carried out by a Bahraini archaeological team in 1983, then work was resumed by the French Archaeological Team in 2017.